Episode 193: How to Turn Your Volunteers Into Donor Advocates Who Grow Your Mission for You

What’s the real difference between a good volunteer and a great one? A good volunteer shows up, helps out, and goes home. A great volunteer spreads the word, brings their friends, and tells your story better than your staff does.

In this episode of The Million Dollar Nonprofit, Tom Kelly breaks down how to turn your volunteers into donor advocates—people who don’t just give time, but also help you raise money and expand your reach. With the simple framework of Equip. Encourage. Elevate., you’ll learn how to empower volunteers to become powerful ambassadors for your mission.

Tom shows you exactly how to:

• Equip your volunteers with advocacy kits—ready-to-share posts, prewritten texts, and quick donor invites they can share in seconds.
• Encourage them with impact-driven messaging and feedback that shows how their advocacy directly fuels your mission.
• Elevate your top advocates with public recognition, shoutouts, and small appreciation gifts that inspire others to step up.

You’ll also hear a real-life example of a youth nonprofit that equipped just 50 volunteers with shareable fundraising content—and those volunteers brought in 120 new donors, with several becoming recurring givers.

If you’ve ever wondered how to make your volunteers part of your fundraising team without adding more work to your plate, this episode gives you the blueprint.

You’ll walk away with 3 actionable steps:

Volunteers don’t just give their time, they can give you reach, donors, and momentum. Equip them, encourage them, elevate them, and watch your fundraising grow.